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Kirkland is also a community that has a Newport Beach party atmosphere from the day the sun first peaks out in March to the last drop of summer in September. Bombaii Cutters is an integral part of that festive Kirkland ambiance and Debbie Lamont has steered this ship for 30 years. Her salon has become something of a community icon. Capelli d'Oro: What does it mean to you to win the 2009 Seattle Weekly Best Salon?
Debbie Lamont: It's quite a pat on the back for hanging in there for 30 years.
C: You have a great location right in the heart of downtown Kirkland. Do you see much walk-in traffic?
DL: Walk-in traffic is our bread and butter. We attract young stylists with no clientele and if they are sharp they will have a full clientele in six months.
C: You have seen the waterfront of Kirkland change over 30 years. How would you characterize it now?
DL: Saturated. There are way too many salons in this core area. Kirkland used to limit the type and number of businesses in the core and we no longer have that.
C: Has the motivation to be a hairdresser changed at all in the past ten or fifteen years?
DL: They do not seem to have the determination we had to succeed. They need to carry their books or cards around and discover the passion for hair that once was common to our business.
C: You used to go to every hair show as did all of us. Have the shows changed in the recent past and are they relevant?
DL: I no longer go to as many shows. They are repeating themselves on platform. The new stylists can see the work as fresh and it has value to them. I get amped when I go to shows with my younger stylists, but there is way too much selling and too little education.
C: We go to YouTube and look at the hair videos, like Ford Model's Johnny Lavoy and Nick Bernardi to get our creative game on. Do you ever do that?
DL: I will now. Thanks for the recommendation.
C: What will you want to be doing in ten years?
DL: Retirement would be nice.
C: Is there such a thing?
DL: Well, you asked me what I wanted to do and not what I was going to be doing.
I am a hands-on owner. I am here seven days each week and see everything that goes in or goes out and can account for every receipt. We are in a sharply contracted marketplace because of the recession. The Wall Street Journal just had an article about the growing number of people doing their hair at home. The major chains salons are down a terrific amount and some may not survive. We all have to account for every dollar or resource we get just to get through this. C: How else do you combat that economic bummer?
DL: Marketing. We use coupons, market through hotels, sandwich boards, our Internet site, and "Did We Blow It?" mailers.
C: What is that last one?
DL: We pull out retention figures each month and look for clients we have not seen in the last 90 days. We either mail a "Did We Blow It?" letter or an "Absence Makes the Hair Grow Longer" card. We want unhappy customers to come back to give us another chance to make them happy, and it seems to work.
C: What parting message do you want to give to our readers - the professional stylists and salon owners?
DL: To the hairdressers: when you are going around and looking for a salon you will work in, you should ask a simple question: what are you going to do to keep me busy. No one ever asks that question. If a salon owner answers this unspoken key question, hairdressers would not bounce around from salon to salon.
Interview By Edward Paul for Capelli d'Oro ©2009 |
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Bombaii Cutters
The town is undergoing a transformation from funky summer destination to year round hospice for wealthy retirees and urban expatriates who want luxury and personal scale in a community setting.